Abstract:
Slum (or shanty towns), a quite particular way of inhabiting, is (are) a social phenomenon
that is on the rise in Constantine. Slum is the expression of an archaic and anarchic urbanism
that has become with time an element of the urban scenery. The places of its implantation
in addition to the materials used for its construction represent a serious public health
problem for both its occupants and the environment. Worn down for many decades by
various complicated concerns, particularly landslide and the dilapidation of the old built,
Constantine has been unable to face this plague that settled in its suburbs. By this unusual
presence, Constantine has been transformed into a nucleus around which gravitate these
"satellites" where some populations, who came to "enjoy" a better life, rot. Admittedly, the
causes of this mass arrival of populations to Constantine are well known and identified but
Constantine is submerged by the number and the absence of infrastructures of reception
and it cannot face the important needs of these populations that had to resign themselves to
settling in the outskirts. However, in front of the extent of this degrading phenomenon that
has "douared" the city, public authorities, with the help of a financial upturn, have finally
reacted by mobilizing all the means to give back these women and men in distress, their
dignity. Rehousing programs allowed to satisfy a large number of requests and reduce to a
large extent the number of human establishments without humanity. Despite the consented
efforts and the results obtained, there is still some way to go and this enables us to assert
that moving from the shack to the social housing is not so simple and can still remain for
some years.
